IT’S a magical family institution which took me on a nostalgia trip right back to my childhood.

When I was a little girl, it was all about The Snowman. The movie was a Christmas staple, as it remains, Harrods was transformed into a winter wonderland for a Snowman themed festive grotto and the much-loved musical score was on TV every five minutes in the Toys R Us advert.

The ballet version of this timeless tale has returned to Southampton and provokes just as much childlike awe in members of the audience, young and old.

Mum, Dad and boy live in a suburban semi, but life is about to become anything but dull as the youngster nods off on a white Christmas Eve and his Snowman comes to life before our very eyes. After a quick tour around the house, involving a dancing pet cat, a pineapple from the fridge, fish fingers from the freezer and a pink fairy who jumps down from a music box, the pair take flight as the curtain comes down on the first act.

It’s part magical flight, part motorbike and sidecar journey which take the friends to the North Pole to visit the Snowman’s eclectic family, made up of snowmen and women from around the world, plus a couple of penguins, Father Christmas and Jack Frost.

It’s a gloriously joyful celebration of the snow with dancers in white gorilla suits managing to entertain as effortlessly as if they were wearing tutus.

Before we come back down to earth, there’s a huge full-scale Tango and the Snowman is soon just a pile of slush with a scarf on top.